Texas man whose execution was halted by subpoena set to testify to lawmakers

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas man whose execution was halted after a last-ditch maneuver by lawmakers who believe Robert Roberson did not kill his 2-year-old daughter was expected to testify before a state House panel on Monday, four days after he had been scheduled to die by lethal injection.

Roberson had been set to become the first person in the U.S. executed over a murder conviction connected to a diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome. His claims of innocence are backed by a group of Republican and Democratic legislators who say he was convicted based on outdated science.

Once Roberson testifies to lawmakers, prosecutors could seek a new execution date at any time, according to Gretchen Sween, one of his attorneys.

Lawmakers have sought to have Roberson transported from death row to appear in person, raising the possibility of an extraordinary scene in the Texas Capitol, but the state attorney general's office told the committee he would appear virtually.

Rebuffed by the courts and Texas’ parole board in their efforts to spare Roberson’s life, legislators last Thursday subpoenaed Roberson to testify in an unusual tactic to buy him more time. Lawmakers on the House committee have expressed frustration with Texas' junk science law, which they say has failed to work as intended, including in Roberson's case.

The 2013 law allows a person convicted of a crime to seek relief if the evidence used against them is no longer credible. At the time, it was hailed by the Legislature as a uniquely future-proof solution to wrongful convictions based on faulty science. But Roberson’s supporters say his case points to faults in the judicial system where the law has been weakened by deliberate misinterpretation from the state’s highest criminal court.

In the last 10 years, 74 applications have been filed and ruled on under the junk science law. A third of applications were submitted by people facing the death penalty. All of them were unsuccessful.

Anderson County District Attorney Allyson Mitchell, whose office prosecuted Roberson, has previously told the committee that a court hearing was held in 2022 in which Roberson’s attorneys presented their new evidence to a judge, who rejected their claims.

Roberson was sentenced to death for the killing of his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki Curtis, in 2002. Prosecutors argued the infant's death was caused by serious head trauma from being violently shaken back and forth. Roberson's attorneys say that the bruising on Curtis' body was likely due to complications with severe pneumonia and not child abuse.

Almost 90 lawmakers across party lines, medical experts and best-selling author John Grisham had called on Republican Gov. Greg Abbott to stay his execution. Abbott has not commented on Roberson's case and the Texas parole board rejected pleas to grant clemency.

Lathan is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.

Texas state representatives Lacey Hull, left, and John Bucy III comment during a press conference after the stay granted by the Texas Supreme Court to halt the execution of Robert Roberson, at the Huntsville Unit of the Texas State Penitentiary, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in Huntsville, Texas. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Jennifer Martin, left, and Thomas Roberson, older brother of condemned prisoner Robert Roberson, right, holds signs as they protest outside the prison where Roberson is scheduled for execution at the Huntsville Unit of the Texas State Penitentiary, Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in Huntsville, Texas. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke)

Texas man whose execution was halted by subpoena set to testify to lawmakers

Texas man whose execution was halted by subpoena set to testify to lawmakers

FILE - Texas lawmakers meet with Robert Roberson at a prison in Livingston, Texas, Sept. 27, 2024. (Criminal Justice Reform Caucus via AP, File)

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — King Charles III was confronted with anti-monarchist sentiment and Indigenous protest during his Australian visit on Monday.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who wants Australia to become a republic with an Australian head of state, and opposition leader Peter Dutton, who wants the British king to remain Australia’s monarch, both brought up the republic debate during a reception for the king and Queen Camilla in Parliament House in the national capital Canberra.

“You have shown great respect for Australians, even during times when we have debated the future of our own constitutional arrangements and the nature of our relationship with the Crown,” Albanese said. “Nothing stands still.”

Dutton’s more tongue-in-cheek address said people were honored to attend the royals’ reception, despite disagreement over the monarchy’s future role in Australia.

“People have had haircuts, people have shined shoes, suits have been pressed and that’s just the republicans,” Dutton quipped, referring to supporters of a republic.

All six state government leaders underscored the political divide on Australia’s constitutional relationship with Britain by declining invitations to attend the reception. All six would prefer an Australian citizen was Australia’s head of state. They each said they had more pressing engagements on Monday, but monarchists agreed the royals had been snubbed.

Charles used the start of his speech to thank Canberra Indigenous elder Auntie Violet Sheridan for her traditional welcome to the king and queen.

“Let me also say how deeply I appreciated this morning’s moving Welcome to Country ceremony, which offers me the opportunity to pay my respects to the traditional owners of the lands on which we meet, the Ngunnawal people, and all First Nations peoples who have loved and cared for this continent for 65,000 years,” Charles said.

“Throughout my life, Australia’s First Nations peoples have done me the great honor of sharing so generously their stories and cultures. I can only say how much my own experience has been shaped and strengthened by such traditional wisdom,” Charles added.

Following Charles’ speech, Indigenous independent Senator Lidia Thorpe protested that British colonizers have taken Indigenous land and bones.

“This is not your land. You are not my king,” Thorpe yelled as she was ushered from the hall.

Australians decided in a referendum in 1999 to retain Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. That result is widely regarded to have been the consequence of disagreement about how a president would be chosen rather than majority support for a monarch.

Albanese has ruled out holding another referendum on the subject during his current three-year term in government. But it is a possibility if his center-left Labor Party is re-elected at elections due by May next year.

Charles was drawn into Australia’s republic debate months before his visit.

The Australian Republic Movement, which wants Australia to sever its constitutional ties with Britain, wrote to Charles in December last year requesting a meeting in Australia and for the king to advocate their cause. Buckingham Palace politely wrote back in March to say the king’s meetings would be decided upon by the Australian government. A meeting with the ARM does not appear on the official itinerary.

“Whether Australia becomes a republic is ... a matter for the Australian public to decide,” the Buckingham Palace letter said.

Earlier Monday, Charles and Camilla had laid wreaths at the Australian War Memorial then shook hands with well-wishers on the second full day of their visit.

The memorial estimated 4,000 people had turned out to see the couple.

Charles, 75, is being treated for cancer, which has led to a scaled-down itinerary. It is Charles’ 17th trip to Australia and the first since he became king in 2022. It is the first visit to Australia by a reigning British monarch since his late mother Queen Elizabeth II traveled to the distant nation in 2011.

Charles and Camilla rested the day after their arrival late Friday before making their first public appearance of the trip at a church service in Sydney on Sunday. They then flew to Canberra where they visited the Tomb of the Unknown Australian Soldier and a reception at Parliament House.

Before leaving the war memorial, they stopped to greet hundreds of people who gathered under clear skies flying Australian flags. The temperature was forecast to reach a mild high of 24 degrees Celsius (75 degrees Fahrenheit).

On Wednesday, Charles will travel to Samoa, where he will open the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

Royal supporters with greeting plate card to at Australian War Memorial to welcome Britain's King Charles and Queen Camilla visit in Canberra, Australia, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker, Pool)

Britain's King Charles III, center left, and Queen Camilla, center right, arrive to lay a wreath at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Australia, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (Brook Mitchell/Pool Photo via AP)

King Charles III and Queen Camilla arrive at the Australian War Memorial accompanied by Australian War Memorial Council Chair Kim Beazley, left, in Canberra, Australia, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (Brook Mitchell/ Pool Photo via AP)

Kim Beazley, third left, chair of Australian War Memorial Council, meets Britain's King Charles III, center, on the king's arrival with Queen Camilla, partially seen at rear center, in Canberra, Australia, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024.

Kim Beazley, third left, chair of Australian War Memorial Council, meets Britain's King Charles III, center, on the king's arrival with Queen Camilla, partially seen at rear center, in Canberra, Australia, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024.

Kim Beazley, third left, chair of Australian War Memorial Council, meets Britain's King Charles III, right, on the king's arrival with Queen Camilla in Canberra, Australia, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024.

Britain's King Charles III, center, and Queen Camilla arrive at Defense Establishment Fairbairn in Canberra, Australia, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (Saeed Khan/Pool Photo via AP)

Australia's Governor-General Sam Mostyn, right, escorts Britain's King Charles III, front center, and Queen Camilla as they arrive at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker, Pool)

Britain's King Charles III, right, and Queen Camilla, center, receive flowers after arriving at Defense Establishment Fairbairn in Canberra, Australia, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (Saeed Khan/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's King Charles III, tight, chat with owner of alpaca before leave the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker, Pool)

King Charles III and Queen Camilla arrive at the Australian War Memorial accompanied by Australian War Memorial Council Chair Kim Beazley, left, in Canberra, Australia, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (Brook Mitchell/Pool Photo via AP)

Britain's King Charles III, and Queen Camilla chats with public before they leave the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, Monday, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Baker, Pool)